howdy
in reply to one of the above poster's queries regarding rotation sites for the lv campus...
from what we have been told, negotiations are under way at st rose hospital in henderson (2 campuses) for rotations as well as possible residencies. i discussed this very recently with one of the tucom bigwigs from new york - negotiations are at an early stage yet. there is a very strong ortho/sports med group out there that is apparently leading the charge on this. tucom (ca) students can rotate out there already though these are not your typical hospital based rotations (ie, no residents/interns to teach you, no morning report, no didactic sessions, etc.). these are the so called office based rotations...lots of clinic time, less hospital time.
then of course, there is valley hospital in vegas proper and its sister hospitals. students rotate at valley currently, though the situation is similar to st rose - with two exceptions. valley does offer didactics and, to put it crudely, you can "do more" there. also, negotiations are well underway regarding fp, im and er residencies. word has it that the fp deal has been signed although we haven't gotten formal notification of that yet. their target start was 2005 which means they would have to have stuff in place in a few months to participate in the match.
other hospitals...you will have the opportunity to round at University Medical Center, the UN hospital in Vegas (the county hospital). this is a well established teaching facility. but, as of now, tucom students are having a difficult time arranging FORMAL rotations there. who knows if and when that will change? still, there have been and are tucom grads in their residencies and students do round there so the school is not an unknown entity.
you will occasionally go to some of the other smaller hospitals around town as well.
this includes the dreaded healthsouth rotations...we won't get into that now.
the one hospital that you won't be going to is sunrise which happens to be the biggest in nevada. they aren't student friendly right now. maybe that will change some day, but its doubtful for you incoming students.
where does this leave you? my opinions follow... (all of this obviously pertains to the first couple classes at lv.)
if you're lucky, within two years the residencies will start at valley and/or st. rose. (st. rose is at a preliminary stage now; the better bet is valley.) if so, you're in good shape. you will have interns and residents to guide you and most of your core rotations will be probably hospital based. didactics, call schedules, continuity clinics, etc. will all be in place since these are all requirements of residency programs. so, as a student, you will just merge into the team - and do what you're told. pray for this scenario to come through in time for your rotations. it may just happen; word is that tucom-lv is more interested in local rotations than tucom-ca was.
if, on the other hand, you're aren't as lucky, my GUESS is that you will still have most of your rotations in vegas utilizing the current system. that is, mostly office based rotations. see my discussion of hospitals above.
the other scenario i can think of is that you will be shipped all over the place. some in vegas, some in new york, some in socal, some in timbuktu... some for 6 month placements, others for a year. some in places with regular teaching hospitals, others without. new york and bakersfield are likely candidates although these are pure guesses. i wouldn't be at all surprised if a chunk of the first few classes end up doing this while the whole residency thing is sorted out. remember, there will be 75 or so of you the first year, and probably more the next year. add to this, around 30 PA students coming in twice a year. that's a lot of people needing rotations. oh yes, don't forget the tucom-ca folks. their numbers are increasing with around 30 coming in next year with god-only-knows how many after that.
anyway, i hope for your sake that scenario 3 isn't the case because moving after second year is a genuine pain in the ass. on the other hand, having a few cores at teaching hospitals is a definite plus.
i think that covers everything. oh, except for this... brian, i have no doubt that one day tucom-lv will eclipse the "mother ship", at least in lv. i have many reasons to think this but i won't share them today. BUT, if the residency thing works out, remember that your seniors will mostly come from said mother ship. that means that the "eclipse" will have to wait at least until tucom-lv graduates its first class...more likely the first residents. in addition, realize that tucom has a good reputation in lv in largely (in my honest opinion solely) due to the students and residents who have come through the california program. in fact, i have been told by more than one attending that we do as well, if not better than the other med students around here. tucom administration on the other hand, has a less than stellar reputation, a nearly universal complaint from our current attendings. this affects you; realize that the ties between tucom-ca and tucom-lv are deep. basically the same curriculum, some of the same faculty, and both laboring under a central administration all the way in new york.
in any case, i realize your comment was in jest, but still, i would hope your ultimate goal is to add to the reputation made by your predecessors rather than trying to eclipse it. if you want to eclispse something, eclispe the ridiculous central administration sytem.
anyway, that's all for now. i will post more information as time permits. if anyone has questions, they can send me a message and i'll get to it as i can. good luck to all of you in the coming months. play as much as you can, relax as much as you can...in spite of all you've been told, you really have no idea what you're in for.
-drgiggles
